Building Pop-Ups at the National Building Museum

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. Designed by General Montgomery Meigs as the Pension Building and built between 1881 and 1887, its eight enormous interior columns are among the tallest in the world. Today the museum features exhibitions on architecture, city planning, and design. So what better place to hold a kids’ class on building pop-ups?

My two-day session was part of a six-week program of kids’ camps at the museum. Twelve young designers and paper engineers participated. The first day we designed books around the themes of family and home. Pop-ups featured drawings of friends, parents, siblings, pets, and room interiors. The next day we concentrated on neighborhoods. After drawing a map of their neighborhood, each child did pop-ups of their house, their school, and their favorite place to eat. As you can see from the results, the class was full of ideas and lots of creative energy.